Sunday, 15 September 2013

Amazon

Nope nothing to do with online retail! It is a lot to do with the latest figure I have managed to bash out. Again a Reaper Miniature in 28mm she is considerably more slender than the male barbarians but to my mind better proportioned more realistic and in a fantastically dynamic pose.

It would have been very obvious to paint her with blonde hair but I went for a dark brown simply because I felt the blonde option was far too clichéd. Also if you actually look around a class of 10 year olds you will see just how rare a natural blonde really is. I don't know about you but "bottle blonds" don't fit my idea of barbarians! Far to Hollywood!

I want to mention the chainmail bikini again completely Hollywood and more a sculptors fantasy than a historical reality. I can proudly boast that I have known a woman with a chainmail bikini many many years ago and that it was reputably "not very comfortable" I'll let you use your imagination as I feel sure it will be totally accurate. And did require it's very own gambeson!

I went for a very stylised shield design. It did take me a while to work out a suitable horse design. I had decided on a horse motif as I wanted something more feminine than most of the shield designs you would normally see. No Axes or Scorpions or the like and by equal measure I did not want anything completely girlie! I did recall (either rightly or wrongly) that the Skythian women did used to fight and it is speculated that is where the Greeks came across the idea of warrior women. I also remember reading that the Skythians had a fondness for red leather. Which did inform me of the shield colours.

Overall as a fantasy figure I must say I do like her as long as we can forget the history and clothing inaccuracies. She will definitely find a place along side the other male barbarians I have painted in the last couple of months.

I have overtime every day this week so I have no idea how much painting will get done so I will sign off now and rush straight to the paining table and try to get something finished. Until Tuesday take care paint figures roll dice have fun and generally enjoy yourself. All the best Clint

I am sure you are correct about warring Slavic women. I am sure many races did. I was just pointing out one possible historic source for the Amazon women in Greek myths. I chose Skythians as I know they fought each other.

Praise indeed on the shield. I won't say it was easy or that I am totally happy with it. But neither am I upset by my painting of it.

Well Clint, I had no idea that as a blonde I am nothing but a cliche. But as my blonde came to me through my Irish genome and not from a bottle, perhaps I'm not so pathetic as all that. And oh yes indeedy do, I have photo's of myself as a little girl and guess what? My hair is blonde. I will find one and post it.

All that aside, you've done a marvelous job with this figure. The skin tones are great and the musculature on the abdominal area stand out perfectly.

Currently I am working on a stunning brunette figure who is wearing a skin tight black cat suit. I've been working on her for 3 weeks and hopefully will have her up next week. I hope you like her.

I feel you are teasing me. We both know how rare natural blondes are. Rare, but they do exist I have no problem believing that you are, indeed my sister is. I am just saying that painting blonde or even red hair on this lady would have been to obvious a choice so I went a different way.

Of course I'm just teasing you. Truly, a blonde or red-head Amazon makes no sense as with that fair skin they'd burn up in the sun.

Blonde hair is due to a genetic mutation and is recessive I think. No it's not all that common and I don't know when the idea of blondes females being attractive began. In art, the blond was never idealized. It was the brunette that reigned supreme amongst women.

Trust me I work with a load of women and if you pay them a compliment like "You look nice today!" They will straight away turn around and cuttingly say something like "Are you saying I normally look horrible!" And then go into a 5 minute rant about it!

So while I am happy for you to tease me please remember that. I would like to think they are joking, but they are not! There words are pure vitriol!

I love the shield, very nicely done! Leaving aside the questionable costume, there's something a bit odd about the pose of this figure, at least to my eye. I think I'd want the shield *in front* of me if I were fighting with this equipment.

Thanks Simon you should know by now I am very hard on myself when it comes to painting.

Having done some teacher training I will say from observation in a class of 30 11 year old girls there would normally be 2 or 3 blondes. In a class of 30 16 year old girls there would typically be 10-12 blondes. Just my observation of course maybe it's the area I live in. Might be something in the water or genetic or it might be because they discover bleach! I'll let you decide!